Cancelled Exams 2021 Government Consultation
The details of the cancelled exams consultation are now available for you to read and respond to. It will end on Friday 29 January at 23:45. This is the link to the survey for you to respond if you wish HERE >> https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/8BYI4T
The important thing to me is that Private Candidates are certainly being considered and will be catered for somehow. There are 4 suggested options below that are included in the consultation. Which would suit your children best?
I would suggest that if you are planning to respond that you read the whole document as there are lots of points to be taken into account. This is the PDF with the full details which you will need to read first HERE>> https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-how-gcse-as-and-a-level-grades-should-be-awarded-in-summer-2021
This is the important part for Home Educators:
Cancelled Exams Private Candidates
We want to build into the approach opportunities for private candidates (for example students studying independently, and home educated students) to be awarded grades in summer 2021.
We believe there are 4 possible approaches:
(a) for private candidates to complete the papers set by the exam boards for use in schools and colleges. The exam boards would mark the papers (and any completed non-exam assessment) and issue a grade to the private candidate based on their performance.
(b) for private candidates to work with a school or college willing to assess the standard at which they are performing – using the same type of evidence the school and college is considering for its students.
(c) for the exam boards to run normal exams for private candidates to take in the summer of 2021 – appropriate venues would need to be provided.
(d) for the exam boards to run normal exams for private candidates to take in the autumn of 2021 – appropriate venues would need to be provided.
We wish to be confident that there will be a route available for all private candidates to receive a grade. We recognise that, given the pressures on schools and colleges created by the pandemic, and the potential public health considerations, schools and colleges might be reluctant to make entries for and then assess private candidates this year. We also wish to manage the costs to private candidates. We know of some private candidates who were unable to receive a grade in summer 2020 and who did not take the exams in the autumn who are particularly concerned about how the arrangements will work for them. For these students, and others, any further delay could have significant consequences for their progression. We are interested to know which of these options private candidates, in particular, would prefer were put in place. Private candidates will also need to be able to appeal their grade. The route for the appeal would need to align with the way their grade was determined.
Questions:
53. To what extent do you agree or disagree that private candidates should be able to complete the papers set by exam boards, with them marked by the exam boards?
54. To what extent do you agree or disagree that private candidates should be able to work with a school or college to produce the same type of evidence as the school or college’s other students?
55. To what extent do you agree or disagree that exam boards should run normal exams for private candidates in summer 2021?
56. To what extent do you agree or disagree that exam boards should run normal exams for private candidates in autumn 2021?
57. Do you have any comments on the options for how grades should be made available to private candidates?
58. If the preferred option for private candidates is an exam series, should any other students be permitted to enter to also sit an exam?